Now, when the prayer was ended, I turned my back upon the
lightening east and set off along the lane.
But, as I went, I heard one hailing me, and glancing round, saw
that in the hedge was a wicket-gate, and over this gate a man was
leaning. A little, thin man with the face of an ascetic, or
mediaeval saint, a face of a high and noble beauty, upon whose
scholarly brow sat a calm serenity, yet beneath which glowed the
full, bright eye of the man of action.
"Good morning, friend!" said be; "welcome to my solitude. I wish
you joy of this new day of ours; it is cloudy yet, but there is a
rift down on the horizon--it will be a fair day, I think."
"On the contrary, sir," said I, "to me there are all the
evidences of the bad weather continuing. I think it will be a
bad day, with rain and probably thunder and lightning! Good
morning, sir!"
"Stay!" cried he as I turned away, and, with the word, set his
hand upon the gate, and, vaulting nimbly over, came towards me,
with a broad-brimmed straw hat in one hand and a long-stemmed
wooden pipe in the other.
"Sir," said he, "my cottage is close by; you look warn and jaded.
Will you not step in and rest awhile?"
"Thank you, sir; but I must be upon my way."
"And whither lies your way?"
"To Sissinghurst, sir."
"You have a long walk before you, and, with your permission, I
will accompany you a little way."
"With pleasure, sir!" I answered, "though I fear you will find me
a moody companion, and a somewhat silent one; but then, I shall
be the better listener, so light your pipe, sir, and, while you
smoke, talk."
"My pipe!" said he, glancing down at it; "ah! yes--I was about to
compose my Sunday evening's sermon."
"You are a clergyman, sir?"
"No, no--a preacher--or say rather--a teacher, and a very humble
one, who, striving himself after Truth, seeks to lend such aid to
others as he may."
"Truth!" said I; "what is Truth?"
"Truth, sir, is that which can never pass away; the Truth of Life
is Good Works, which abide everlastingly."
"Sir," said I, "you smoke a pipe, I perceive, and should,
therefore, be a good preacher; for smoking begets thought--"
"And yet, sir, is not to act greater than to think?"